Ordination Day

This is an important day for me. It is my ordination day, the day when my chosen denomination will publically recognize my call to ministry. They will stand and affirm that I have the gifts and graces for ministry. My fellow ministers will stand and affirm my call. It will be a sacred moment and one that I have long waited for.

I first received the call to ministry when I was in college. When I came home and told my parents my father said, “Don’t come home and preach at me.” My mother said, “I am so thankful. I was afraid you would go oversees to be a missionary.” But they have always supported me and always encouraged me as I have struggled to fulfill that call over the years.

As a wife and mother I searched to find the balance that can so often be missing in a minister’s family. As a pastor of a Nazarene Church I was comfortable and excited about where God had brought me. Then my husband left and I found that I no longer had a place of ministry in the Church of the Nazarene. That rejection shook me to the core. It caused me to question my call, my spiritual life and every aspect of who I was.

I found a place of ministry with a Rescue Ministry and received ministerial licensing with a non-denominational organization. But I missed the affirmation and support of a denominational structure. I struggled to find a place of comfort as a lay member of a congregation and did not seem to fit in anywhere.

About 5 years ago God brought me to a Free Methodist Church in Willamina. Little by little the pastor encouraged me to preach and teach and to meet with the denominational leaders to talk about ordination. When my fear of rejection held me back, he kept encouraging me forward. The day came when I took huge step of faith and went to see the conference superintendent. I was stunned when he told me I was welcome and I would find a place of ministry with them.

I have found a place of ministry with the Free Methodist Church. I have found the leadership to be godly and the people are loving and warm. I am humbled and amazed to find myself where I am. I am so grateful to be given a place to serve. I am looking forward with anticipation and joy to serving in the years ahead.

2Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. I Timothy 4:2

Just Connie